


Antsy Hands

by Obsessedwithoverthinking



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: 'Hordak appreciates her as a grown intelligent woman', Canon Autistic Character, F/M, Post-Canon Fluff, Stimming, catch me crying into the mic, just two nerds being lab partners, need to write more of them
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-10
Updated: 2020-06-10
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:54:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24651907
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Obsessedwithoverthinking/pseuds/Obsessedwithoverthinking
Summary: Hordak notices that Entrapta is always fiddling with things.
Relationships: Entrapta & Hordak (She-Ra), Entrapta/Hordak (She-Ra)
Comments: 23
Kudos: 342





	Antsy Hands

**Author's Note:**

> I know I'm working on a bigger fic but this is just a short lil self indulgent thing to help my currently horrendous mental state because as a 20+ year old autistic man I very much appreciate Entrapta's accurate depiction of autism displayed in a 30ish year old character and as a gay man I want a tall dramatic goth husband.

The room had a lovely familiar hum of computers and machinery as they both went about their work in Entrapta's laboratory. Technically it was _their_ laboratory now but Hordak still felt strange working in her castle after all those years in the Fright Zone. They didn’t have any big project to work on so the both of them were workshopping ideas, Entrapta wanted to make more robots, obviously, and Hordak was ok with that idea but hoped he could catch her eye with his idea for isolated anti gravity now that he had access to Prime’s technology. 

Entrapta looked over the large blueprints on the table as she fiddled with a pen in her hand. She let out a few curious ‘Hmms’ as she raised herself above the table slightly so she could see the blueprints better.

“Ok so I need some electrical tape, wire shears, some 2.5 mm allen keys, 5 mm allen keys- oh wait that’s supposed to be 5.5 mm.” She paused and let out a slightly uncomfortable noise. Hordak glanced over from his own table and saw her eyebrows tilted slightly as she looked at her hands. “Uh. Do you have a pen over there?”

“You _just_ had one.” Hordak said as he picked up a pen to bring over. He glanced at her hands and saw the remnants of the pen she was holding mere seconds ago, it had been completely dismantled and the spring had been stretched out. Hordak paused slightly and looked at her as she gave him a slightly guilty ‘whoops’ expression. “You’ve done that before, why do you keep taking things apart?”

Entrapta put the ruined pen parts in a small tub for use later, they didn’t waste anything in this lab, and took the one from his hand tentatively like she was worried she’d break this one too. 

“I'll fix it later, I... It’s just what my hands do. I like playing with things, I don’t know how to explain it but it helps me concentrate. If I’m not doing something with my hands they start to feel…” She wiggled her fingers while looking for the word. “Antsy.”

“Interesting.” Hordak muttered as he watched her make the change to the blueprints. After she was done she put the pen to the side and started to collect the tools she needed. “Do you find it… Fun?”

“I mean I don’t like when I break stuff but I like when I can find something that’s kinda fun to mess with. Like something that has buttons or sliding parts- Ooh or if it spins! That’s always cool.” She smiled at him before she went over to a workbench and flipped down her mask. He took that as a cue to leave her alone and went back to his own station.

He wondered why she felt the need to do that. She rarely used her hands when she could use her hair instead and he almost never saw her with her gloves off so the fact she actually seemed to crave stimulation in some ways greatly intrigued him.

Throughout the rest of the evening Hordak found himself paying attention to her hands. He had noticed before but now it felt obvious that, more often than not, she was doing something with her hands. If they weren’t full she was tapping them against something, usually her legs, and if she was holding something then she was playing with it in some way or otherwise absentmindedly fiddling with it. Every socket wrench she picked up she’d give the head of it a good few twists before she actually used it, she’d push buttons on a remote before the machine was even powered up, and most concerningly at one point she accidentally turned on a drill while she was thumbing the trigger. 

Inevitably Entrapta fell asleep at her workbench after she’d long passed her limit, Hordak considered carrying her to bed but knew he’d end up falling prey to the need to rest beside her so he called through a robot through to carry her instead. After he watched her disappear from the doorway he turned to go back to his work before he realised that he didn’t want to keep working on it, he had another idea that wouldn’t leave his mind. 

He felt oddly apprehensive about making her a gift. It felt too... Vulnerable. However before he knew it the scientist in him won out and he had laid a clean sheet of drafting paper down and has begun sketching measurements.

\----

A soft groan left Entrapta. She was far too cold and it stirred her from the overworked slumber she’d fallen into. Her hair patted the space where Hordak should have been.

She opened her eyes as her grasping found nothing and saw his side of the bed was perfectly made, except for the wrinkles her hair just caused, even his special supportive pillows hadn’t moved. Entrapta glanced around the empty room as she rubbed her eyes, she thought about going back to sleep but quickly realised she hated the idea of sleeping without him and pulled herself out of bed with her hair.

Lazily she made her way to the lab and looked around, everything was still powered on. It wasn’t long before she spotted his large body slumped in a chair. 

“Oh… There you are.” She muttered affectionately as she went to pick him up but her eyes locked onto what he was working on. “Ooh!” 

She picked it up and rotated it in her hands. It was a red and black cube that fit nicely into both her hands and was covered in buttons, dials, and cogs, she thought the last one was weird since they were partially external and didn’t have any protective casing over them but figured it was just unfinished. The scrap metal on the table certaintly pointed towards this being just one of many he had tried to make.

“What is this? Some sort of remote?” Entrapta asked the unconscious man snoring gently beside her. With curiosity winning over she started pressing the buttons.

Nothing. 

She hummed curiously as she turned it over and spun a dial on the bottom of it. Still nothing. She pushed the cogs on the side and couldn’t help but smile as she heard the satisfying click they made as they turned, the sliding parts seemed to alternate between clicking and making no noise as they moved but no matter the position she put them in they seemed to do nothing. 

Entrapa kept fiddling with it as she looked over his desk. He’d drafted plans for it and had clearly thought about it but the inside of the casing seemed to be… 

“Empty? … Is this just a prototype? What’s it supposed to be?” Entrapta threw herself back and caught herself with her hair as she settled into a lounging position. She didn’t notice Hordak beginning to stir from all her talking. 

He groaned slightly, even with his armour his back wasn’t happy with him sleeping slumped over, he went to straighten himself up but paused as he saw Entrapta holding the cube. She had her mouth open slightly as she played with it, one hand pressing the buttons and the other spinning the cogs on the side. Her eyes lidded slightly, his did too. For a minute or so he watched as he woke up before he realised he was staring at her.

“Do you like it?” 

Entrapta jolted slightly in surprise and watched as he slowly straightened himself up. She glanced down at the cube before looking at him again. 

“I- Well yeah, I guess… What is it?” Despite not knowing she still absentmindedly fiddled with it as a look of satisfaction came over his face. 

“It’s for your hands while you work. I’m still not sure _why_ you feel it helps you concentrate but who am I to question your process? I figured if you had something dedicated to fiddling with then it’d be easier for you rather than you destroying all the pens.” Hordak wasn’t expecting her expression to shift to such a soft one but in his tired state it was enough to take him aback. 

“Thank you, Hordak.” She smiled softly at him. He regained composure and rubbed his tired eyes with the heel of his hand. She chuckled slightly and put the cube in her hair as she reached for Hordak’s hand. “Let’s go to bed or I’ll end up using it all night.” 

“I’d consider it a compliment.” He said, amused, as he followed her to the bedroom. 

The cube went on her bedside table as she slipped under the covers. She still had that smile as she looked at it. He watched her face carefully as robotic arms descended from the ceiling and started taking off his armour. 

“I didn’t expect you to be so... Enamoured with it.” He said as robotic arms retreated into the ceiling and left him wearing the more lightweight armour he slept in. Entrapta looked at him and smiled as she lay on her back. She took a second before she seemed to find what she wanted to say and started softly.

“It’s not just that. You’ve always done this. People just don’t really try to understand me like you do. You don’t say that I’m weird or that I don’t make sense. You said you didn’t understand it and yet you made something for me anyway because I said it helped. I really appreciate it.” She reached out her hair and pulled him closer, he walked over to her and smiled softly as she nuzzled his hand a little. He cupped her cheek and stroked it gently. 

“What kind of scientist would I be if I just rejected things I didn’t understand?” Hordak pulled away from her and went to his side of the bed, Entrapta kept a hold of his hand in her hair the whole time. He sat on the edge and thumbed her hair slightly. “In my opinion anyone who treats you as lesser simply because you don’t act like them is a fool and a coward.”

Entrapta let out a happy, contented noise as he slipped under the covers too. She settled in as she went to go back to sleep, hair still firmly holding his hand and forearm. 

He watched her for longer than he would admit before sleep finally pulled him in too. 

The cube sat on the nightstand. Despite the constant use it would have over the coming months it would never break or wear down even slightly. Any sticky buttons would magically be fine by the next day and any stuck sliding or rotating parts would somehow be good as new before she knew it. 

Hordak would ensure it. 


End file.
